Dolly for stacking chairs



Aug. 29, 1967 D.1 .Rowl AND DOLLY FOR`STKACKING CHAIRS 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 17, 1965 61|,l @v 12W w.. 2. w w O/ O :H' RA n. 6 f mm SN m 2 N Dap 4 HI E0 0 ,f 2 .n 0 ./r W L L 0/ w w A 2 DVM M l. f. 1||| 20J .J k lll.. w Q v M J4 4 4. 6 4 Z0 J 14 H f 0 l? Aug. 29, 1967 D. L. RowLAND DOLLY FOR STACKING CHAIRS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 17, 1965 /Nl/E/VTOR DAV/0 L. HOM/LAND' BY ATTORNEY United States atent 3,338,591 DOLLY FOR STACKlNG CHAIRS David L. Rowland, 49 W. 55th St., New York, N.Y. 10019 Filed Aug. 17, 1965, Ser. No. 480,317 3 Claims. (Cl. 280-79.1)

This invention relates to an improved dolly for storage and transportation olf stacked chairs.

A recent invention of mine has provided chairs which are compactly stackable; forty of them can ibe stacked within a height of about four feet. Such high stacking, however, is not practiced with the chairs in their normal sitting position, because each succeeding chair is not only on 'topof but a little forward of the chair below it, and in time this forward thrust is enough to topple the stack.

Also, the stack of chairs gets very heavy and hard to move, but by use of the dolly 'of this invention, it becomes possible to transport and to store the compact stack of a large number of chairs quite efficiently. It is not limited to forty chairs, but that will serve as one example.

The dolly is not only able to support the stack in such a way as to achieve substantially vertical stacking but is also able to prevent sidewise movement, so that the stack is held in a stable position in al1 directions, in one direction by gravity and the other three by positive means.

Since a stack of forty chairs' is quite heavy, the invention provides a simple but strong dolly.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of a dolly embodying the principles of the invention.

FIG, 2 is a top plan view of the dolly.

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view lof the dolly.

FIG. 4 is a view in side elevation orf the dolly of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a view in rear elevation of the dolly.

FIG. 6 is a vie-w in perspective of the dolly of FIGS.

14 with one chair placed on top of it and illustrating v how the stack is begun.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken along the line 7-7 in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a view in perspective of a stack of forty chairs stacked upon the dolly.

FIG. 9 is a view in side elevation of the stack of FIG. 8 on the dolly.

The drawings show a dol-ly 10 comprising 'a front frame member 11, a rear frame member 12, a pair of side frame members 13 and 14, and provided with a pair of rear Wheels 15, 16 and a pair of front casters 17 and 18 with wheels 19 and 20. 'Ilhus, the front wheels 19, 20 are able to turn, while the rear Wheels 15, 16 follows.

The rear frame member 12 comprises a flat channel with a horizontal flat top 21, a vertical rear flange 22, a turnedin horizontal rear lian-ges 23, a forwardly and downwardly inclined rfront flange 24, and a turned-in horizontal front flange 25. To the flanges 23 and 25 are secured two plates 26, to which are secured yokes 27 and 28 that carry the rear wheels and 16.

The front frame member 11 is also a channel, 'but is provided with a sloping top portion 30 that is inclined rearwardly and downwardly. Forward and rear anges 31 and 32 are .both vertical, the front flange 31 `being much higher than the rear one 32 because of the slope of the top 30, both flanges 31 and 32 having inturned horizontal flanges 33 and 34. Two plates 35, to which the casters 17 and 18 are pivotally secured, are themselves bolted to the flanges 33 and 34.

The front and rear channels 11 a'nd 12 are joined together at each side by the side frame members 13 and 14,

each of which comprises a forward angle 40 or 41, a rear angle 42 lor 43, and a reinforcing gusset or inside plate member 44 or 45. The [front angles 40, 41 have inside yguard rails 46, 47 and base strips 48, 49 secured, as by Welding, to the t-op face 30 of the front channel 11 and extending rearwardly thereof at the same inclination. The rearv angles 42, 43 have inside guard rails 50, 51 and base strips 52., 53 secured, as by weldin t-o the forward face 24 olf the rear channel 12 and at the same inclination, with strip portions 54, 55 secured to the top face 21 of the rear channel 12.

The front angles 40, 41 meet the rear angles 42, 43 at about 90, being tilted to provide the proper angle for stacking, the rear legs 61, 62 of the bottom chair 60 being placed on and against the strips 52, 53. The front angles 40, 41 are long enough to extend practically the full length of the bottom -rails 63, 64 of the chair 60 and at least long enough for a chair having glides 65, 66 to extend from the rear legs 61, 62 to the front ends of the front glides 66 of the bottom chair 60, all as shown in FIG. 6. This means that the front angles 40, 41 provide support for the chairs bottom rails 63, 64, while the rear angles 42, 43, provide support for the rear legs 61, 62.

4It will be noted that the chair 60 comprises a frame plus a back 67 and a seat 68 and that the frame includes the rear legs 61, 62, bottom rails 63, 64, and front legs 71, 72, which are inset from their bottom rails 63, 64 and therefore from the rear legs 61, 62. Upper rails 74 are also inset from the bottom rails 63, 64 and are secured to their rear legs 61, 62 by an offsetting means, which may comprise a part of a rear rail 75, for example.

The inclination of the front angles 40, 41 and rear angles 42, 43 is such that the other chairs 76 can be nested substantially vertically above the bottom chair 60, one on top of the other so that the tendency for each upper chair 76 to be forward of its lower chair is compensated for by the angle of inclination. The angles 40, 41, 42, 43 provide not only the base portions 48, 49,

.52, 53 on which the bottom chair 60 actually rests but also side flanges 46, 47, 50, 51 located at the inner side, which positively prevent the chairs from sliding olf the dolly 10. The angles 40, 41, 42, 43 are therefore spaced apart slightly less than the distance between the bottom rails 63 and 64 and between the rear legs 61 and 62. This acts to center the chairs, and it will be seen that a single chair, once installed, can only be taken of by either sliding it up parallel to one pair of the angles or by a-ctually lifting it out. In either event, the force of gravity works against displacement of the chair. The chair 60 cannot move to either side because of the upstanding angles. The reinforcing plates or gussets 44, 45 strengthen the joint between the front and rear angles and provide additional securement to the rear member 12.

In use, the bottom chair 60 is placed as shown in FIG. 6 onto the dolly 10, and then other chairs 76 are stacked one by one on top of it. When the stack is built up to its desired height, it may look as sh-own in FIGS. 8 and 9, in which the compactly stacked chairs 60, 76 reach a height of approximately four feet'for forty chairs. Once stacked, the dolly 10 is still sufficiently strong to be able to support them in that position and to move them, typically with the casters 17, 18 at the front. Thus, the stack of chairs may be brought out and put in place. For example, such dollies may be used to stack the chairs and store them, and then when they are ready. t-o be used, the dolly 10 may be rolled out with its full stack of 4chairs on it and each one taken off. It will be obvious, for example, that by the use of only ten dollies in storage, one can have four hundred chairs ready in a space where they are approximately only ten chairs wide and a little over four feet high.

Also, the chairs 60 may be of the type which can be joined together, as described in my Patent No. 3,080,194, and they can actually be stacked on a plurality of dollies for motion together as a row.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and the description herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

I claim:

1. A dolly for transportation and storage of compactly stackable chairs, having bottom rails and front and rear legs, including in combination:

(1) a front frame assembly comprising a front channel having a rearwardly and downwardly inclined top face, vertical front and rear flanges and horizontal front and rear bottom flanges, and a pair of casters secured to said bottom anges,

(2) a rear frame assembly comprising a rear channel having a horizontal top face, a vertical rear flange, an inclined forward flange, and front and rear horiz-ontal bottom flanges, and a pair of wheel assemblies supported by said bottom flanges, and

(3) a pair of side assemblies secured to and joining said front and rear assemblies each comprising (a) a rearwardly and downwardly inclined forward angle member having an upstanding guard rail portion on its inward side and a at portion secured to said inclined top face and eX- tending from its forward edge rearwardly and beyond the rear edge of said front frame assembly to a rear edge of said angle member,

(b) a rearwardly and upwardly inclined rear angle member secured to said rear edge of said forward angle member and to said inclined forward ange of said rear frame assembly and having an `upstanding guard rail portion on its inward side and having a continuing strip portion extending yover and secured to said rear channelfs top face, and

(c) a gusset member secured to both said guard rail portions and across them to join them together and strengthen them, said chairs being stackable on said dolly with the bottom rail of the bottom chair resting on said forward angle members and its said rear legs resting on said rear angle members, with said guard rails positioning them against lateral movement, the other chairs being stackable one on another over the bottom chair.

2. A dolly for transportation and storage of compactly stackable chairs of a type having a bottom rail joining each front and rear leg, including in combination:

front and rear U-shaped frame members, said front member having a rearwardly and downwardly inclined top portion, said rear frame member having a downwardly and forwardly inclined forward portion,

wheels supported by the ends of each said frame member at the -open ends, and

a pair of side frame members bridging between said front and rear members, each side frame member providing a flat strip with a vertical guard rail on an inner side and each having front and rear por tions meeting at an angle in between said front and rear frame members, the end of said front portion being secured to and lying at the same inclination as the top portion of said front frame member, said rear portion being secured to and lying at the same inclination as said forward portion and over the top of said rear frame member.

3. A device as in claim 1 further including a plurality of stacked chairs mounted in said side frame members, the bisector of the angle making an angle with the vertical such that corresponding portions of the stacked chairs are in a vertical line.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,189,053 6/1916 Buchanan 280-79-1 1,536,611 5/1925 Duke 280-79.1 X 2,537,909 1/1951 Puddester 28o- 79.1 2,737,230 3/1956 Mackintosh 287-239 FOREIGN PATENTS 668,966 11/1929 France. 600,211 7/ 1934 Germany.

BENJAMIN HERSH, Prirrzary Examiner.

C. C. PARSONS, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No 3 ,338 ,591 August 29 1967 David L. Rowland It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below Column l, line 53, for "follows" read follow line 5o, for "rear flanges 23" read rear flange 23 column 4, line 28, for the claim reference numeral "l" read 2 Signed and sealed this 6th day of August 1968.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD J BRENNER Commissioner of Patents Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Attesting Officer 4 

1. A DOLLY FOR TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE OF COMPACTLY STACKABLE CHAIRS, HAVING BOTTOM RAILS AND FRONT AND REAR LEGS, INCLUDING IN COMBINATION: (1) A FRONT FRAME ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A FRONT CHANNEL HAVING A REARWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY INCLINED TOP FACE, VERTICAL FRONT AND REAR FLANGES AND HORIZONTAL FRONT AND REAR BOTTOM FLANGES, AND A PAIR OF CASTERS SECURED TO SAID BOTTOM FLANGES, (2) A REAR FRAME ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A REAR CHANNEL HAVING A HORIZONTAL TOP FACE, A VERTICAL REAR FLANGE, AND INCLINED FORWARD FLANGE, AND FRONT AND REAR HORIZONTAL BOTTOM FLANGES, AND A PAIR OF WHEEL ASSEMBLIES SUPPORTED BY SAID BOTTOM FLANGES, AND (3) A PAIR OF SIDE ASSEMBLIES SECURED TO AND JOINING SAID FRONT AND REAR ASSEMBLIES EACH COMPRISING (A) A REARWARDLY AND DOWNWARDLY INCLINED FORWARD ANGLE MEMBER HAVING AN UPSTANDING GUARD RAIL PORTION ON ITS INWARD SIDE AND A FLAT PORTION SECURED TO SAID INCLINED TOP FAE AND EXTENDING FROM ITS FORWARD EDGE REARWARDLY AND BEYOND THE REAR EDGE OF SAID FRONT FRAME ASSEMBLY TO A REAR EDGE OF SAID ANGLE MEMBER, (B) A REARWARDLY AND UPWARDLY INCLINED REAR ANGLE MEMBER SECURED TO SAID REAR EDGE OF SAID FORWARD ANGLE MEMBER AND TO SAID INCLINED FORWARD FLANGE OF SAID REAR FRAME ASSEMBLY AND HAVING AN UPSTANDING GUARD RAIL PORTION ON ITS INWARD SIDE AND HAVING A CONTINUING STRIP PORTION EXTENDING OVER AND SECURED TO SAID REAR CHANNEL''S TOP FACE, AND (C) A GUSSET MEMBER SECURED TO BOTH SAID GUARD RAIL PORTIONS AND ACROSS THEM TO JOIN THEM TOGETHER AND STRENGTHEN THEM, SAID CHAIRS BEING STACKABLE ON SAID DOLLY WITH THE BOTTOM RAIL OF THE BOTTOM CHAIR RESTING ON SAID FORWARD ANGLE MEMBERS AND ITS SAID REAR LEGS RESTING ON SAID REAR ANGLE MEMBERS, WITH SAID GUARD RAILS POSITIONING THEM AGAINST LATERAL MOVEMENT, THW OTHER CHAIRS BEING STACKABLE ONE ON ANOTHER OVER THE BOTTOM CHAIR. 